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BSU speech team has best national tournament since 1972

Contributed by:Mary MoorePublished:Wednesday, 23 April 2014 3:00 PM

Last weekend, the Ball State University speech team finished 4th at the National Forensic Association national tournament and Senior Andrew Neylon won the Individual Sweepstakes Championship, which means he earned more points than any other speaker in the nation. Neylon is BSU's first pentathlon champion in our school's history. The tournament, held on the campus of Eastern Michigan University, hosted 86 schools and more than 1,800 entries this year. Fourteen students qualified for nationals and represented Ball State in 59 individual events. The team received 92 1st place ranks in preliminary rounds and 29 1st place ranks in elimination rounds. WKU was crowned team sweepstakes champion, Bradley University placed second, and the University of Texas at Austin placed third. Ball State University beat Illinois State University, Eastern Michigan University, Gustavus Adolphus College and Northwestern University. This victory is especially important as Ball State hasn't broken into the top 5 since 1972. Prior to this year, BSU's best finishes at NFA were in 2005 and 2013 when the team finished 7th place. Twelve individual events advanced to elimination rounds. Please join me in congratulating the following students:

The BSU Speech team is coached by Mary Moore, Ashley Coker, Michelle Colpean, & David Martin. It is housed in the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Communication, Information & Media.